Our Market

Denmark has a population of over five million, and GDP declined by 4.5 per cent in 2009.

The newspaper circulation market in Denmark was estimated to be worth €563 million in 2009, remaining constant from 2008. Newspaper circulations in the paid-for national daily market in Denmark declined by 6 per cent during 2009, and regional newspaper circulations declined by approximately 8 per cent.

Newspaper advertising was estimated to be worth €591 million in 2009 and constituted 35 per cent of the total advertising market against 37 per cent in 2008. Newspaper advertising declined by 17 per cent in 2009 compared with 2008. Advertising in the paid-for newspapers declined by 23 per cent with nationals down by 22 per cent, regionals down by 25 per cent and locals down by 26 per cent.

There are two major newspaper publishers in the Danish market: Mecom’s operations trading as Berlingske Media (“Berlingske”) and JP/Politikens Hus, together representing 49 per cent of the total newspaper market.

Berlingske’s largest title Berlingske Tidende, a national daily newspaper, has performed better than its main competitors Jyllandsposten and Politikens during 2009. Berlingske Tidende has lost 0.6 per cent of circulation, while Politikens has lost 6 per cent and Jyllandsposten lost 11 per cent. In the tabloid market, both B.T. (Berlingske) and Ekstra Bladet (JP/Politikens Hus) have lost significant circulation during 2009. B.T. has performed marginally better than Ekstra Bladet. The tabloid market circulation declined by almost 20 per cent during 2009.

After the closure of Nyhedsavisen in 2008, the Danish free-sheet market consists of three national publications: MetroXpress (Metro International), 24Timer (Metro International) and URBAN (Berlingske).  MetroXpress has the largest share in the free-sheet market at 40 per cent. Berlingske has an estimated 29 per cent share of the free-sheet market. In 2009, URBAN implemented a new strategy focusing on major Danish cities and reduced the number of copies distributed significantly, however, without compromising its readership. Other free-sheet titles adopted similar strategies, although URBAN had better success and increased the number of readers per copy by 31 per cent, its competitors only managed to increase it by 23 per cent (MetroXpress) and 19 per cent (24 Timer).

Online advertising is estimated to be worth €437 million. Banner advertising continued to grow by 7 per cent year-on-year and search advertising was estimated to have grown by 44 per cent in 2009 whilst online classifieds and recruitment segment declined by 10 per cent.